Suction cleaner



`2o, 1931 2 sheets-sheet 1 yer Win59 m N w s,

l Ju-ne 2l, 1932.

H. H. BOYER SUCTION CLEANER Filed Feb.

Patented June 21, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAROLD H. BOYER, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T THE HOOVER COINCPAN Y, OF NORTH i CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO sUcTIoN CLEANER Application led February 20, 1931. Serial No. 517,218.

The present invention relates to suction cleaners in general and more particularly to new and novel improvements in suction cleaner construction which serve to increase the range of usefulness of the cleaner thru making it accessible to many portions of the surface covering which have usually been considered beyond its reach. More specilically the present invention comprises the provision of a suction cleaner having an extensible cleaning nozzle which can be readily adjusted to one of a plurality of positions relative to the cleaner proper.

In the use of the ordinary suction cleaner many areas of the surface covering positioned under heavy articles of furniture which are not readily movable and which approach the supporting surface in such proximity that the cleaner is not movable thereunder are neglected and are left to a supplementing broom or mop. The ordinary suction cleaner necessarily has a denite height, usually of some eight to ten inches above the supporting surface, thereby resulting in the inclusion of all covering areas under heavy pieces of furniture, which approach the covering within those ranges, in the field outside the cleaners sphere. Cleaners have been designed with the idea in mind of making the total overall height as small as possible for the express purpose of permitting the cleaner to gain ent-rance under as many articles of furniture as possible, but it is obvious that there are certain lower limits under which the height of the cleaner cannot be decreased, there being certain essential and necessary parts, and though the cleaner is well designed the height will still be relatively great. In the suction cleaner constructed in accordance with the 0 present invention, means have been provided by which the eii'ective height of the suction cleaner can be decreased to a fraction of its usual amplitude. This effect is accomplished thru the provision of an eXtensible nozzle which is an integral part of the cleaner and which is so designed that it can be easily adjusted in a horizontal plane relative to the cleaner by the operator. As the height of the nozzle proper above the surface covering is relatively small, as compared to that of the entire cleaner, it is apparent that for the length of the extended nozzle the cleaner has an effective height no greater than the nozzle height and that the machine can be operated with this portion alone extendedl under articles of furniture, if necessary.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved suction cleaner. It is another object to provide, in a suction cleaner, new and novel improvements which function to increase the range of usefulness of the cleaner. provide a permanently carried horizontally extensible nozzle in a suction cleaner. It is a still further object to provide, in a suction cleaner, a permanentlyv incorporated nozzle which is manually adjustable by the operator. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved suction cleaner construction in which the cleaner l nozzle can be adjusted horizontally relative to the remainder of the cleaner. These 'and other more specific objects will appear upon reading the following specification and claims and considering in connection therewith the attached drawings to which they relate.

In the drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed and in which the same reference characters refer to like parts in the`various views: Fig. 1 is a side view, partially in section, showing a suction cleaner with the present invention embodied therein;

Fig. 2 isa section upon the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

It is a still further object to 'ali Fig. 3 is a partial top view showing the able cover plate or section 14, in the conduit 11 at the eye 13 of the fan chamber, which is removably secured in place by means of a suction cleaner construction the intake con-z duit 11 extends under and along the length of the motorcasing 16 which is itself provided with a suitable contacting base. A dust bag 19 is secured to the exhaust outlet 12 of the fan casing, as in the usual cleaner, and is suspended at its upper end, in a manner which is not shown and which forms no part of the present invention, from the handle 20. This handle is pivotally connected at its lower end to the motor casing 16 and, thru being hollow, provides a conduit f or the incoming power lead 21 which, ata lower point, enters the motor casing 16. Handleposition-controlling means are provided at thelower end of the handle comprising an arcuate sector 22 carried by one of the divided arms of the handle. The outer face of sector 22 is provided with suitable seats which are adapted to be contacted `by a spring-pressed plunger 23 carried by the motor casing 16 as in the usual suction cleaner construction. The front of the cleaner is movably supported by means of spaced wheels 24, 24 which are carried by brackets 25, 25 which extend downwardly from Lthe motor casing 16 atl the sides of the intake conduit 11. The rear of the cleaner, which in the usual suction cleaner would beA the frcnt, is supported by a pivoted wheel 26 which is provided with adjusting means 27 whose function it is to raise ,and lower the wheel for the purpose of pivoting the cleaner about the front supporting wheels as an axis.

The suction cleaner nozzle, which is positioned in the usual suction cleaner on a line substantially thru the point occupied by the rear wheel 26 and upon the opposite side of the fan chamber from the motor casing 16 is, in the present instance, carried by the in take conduit 11 and is adapted to contactthe surface-covering undergoing cleaning at a point forward of the said casingV 16,"and on the same side of the fan chamber. In the drawings the cleaner nozzle is indicated by the reference character 28 and comprises an elongated channel which is ,widened at Aits end forward of the 'conduit 11 into'a downwardly facing kopening or mouth, the edges of which are defined by the front and rear nozzle lips 29 and 30. As is perhaps mosty clearly shown in Figure 1, nozzle 28 is seated within the intake conduit 11 and conforms' to the shape thereof. The' nozzle is not'rigyidly positioned within the conduit butinstead is slidably mounted therein and may be adjusted between the position shown in.-

full lines inFigure 1 and the position shown in dotted lines. Means are provided, in the form of alspring-pressed detent 31 carried by the conduit 11, which is adapted to coop-v erate with spaced recesses or seats 32, 32, etc., in the adjacent side of the nozzle 28 to hold the nozzle in. any set position relative to the conduit 11, the unintentional withdrawal of the nozzle 'from the conduit being prevented by a set screw 37 carried by the upper wall of the conduit which slides in a longitudinal groove 38 formed'in the adjacent side of the nozzle'. r-ied at the forward end of the conduit 11 and the rearward end of the nozzle 28, respectively, which function to prevent leakage of, air into the' fan chamber 10, in response to the reduced pressure created therein by the rotating fan 17, thru any other means than the mouth of the nozzle 28 as defined by the lips 29 and 30. The usual nozzle position relative to the cleaner is that shown lin full lines in Figure 1 and is that position in which a shoulder 35 carried by the nozzle 28 contacts the end of tlie conduit 11. The nozzle may be withdrawn from the conduit 11 as far as the nozzle length will permit and as limitedvby the screw 37 in the longitudinal groove 38. j

In Figure 5 a slightly modified embodiment of the present invention vis disclosed in which ,the nozzle-positioning means comprising the spring pressed lever or detent 31 of the first described modification and its cooperating seats 32, 32 have been replaced .by a manually rotatable screw member 36,

Spaced felt seals 33 and 34 are car;

carried by the conduit 11, which is adapted to contact the adjacent side of the nozzle 28 to clamp the nozzle in place. i

The opgration of the suction cleaner constructed in accordance with the prese-nt invention is extremely simple. YIn the usual operation of the machine the nozzle will be positioned as shown in full lines in Figure 1 and the machine will be operated as ary7 other machine. Upon the -necessity arising for cleaning under an article of furniture under which the cleaner proper will not paSs it isonly necessary for the operator to pull the ,nozzle 28 forwardly from the remainder of the cleaner, resulting in its sliding in the conduit 11, to some position, the extent of adjusting screw 36 to permit the Withdrawal of the enclosed nozzle 28 and then to tighten it after the nozzle had been adjusted to the desired position.

I claim:

l. A suction cleaner comprising a suctioncreating unit, a suction nozzle having an intake opening and movably carried by said unit, means movably supporting said unit and said nozzle with said intake opening addressing the surface covering undergoing cleaning, characterized by the fact that said nozzle is adjustable horizontally relative to said suction-creating unit.

2. A suction cleaner comprising a suctioncreating unit, a suction nozzle having an intake opening and slidably carried by said unit, means movably supporting said unit and said nozzle Wit-l1 said intake opening addressing the surface covering undergoing cleaning.

3. A suction cleaner comprising a suctioncreating unit, a suction nozzle having an intake opening and slidably carried by said unit, means movably supporting said unit and said nozzle with said intake opening addressing the surface covering undergoing cleaning, and means carried by said unit to maintain said nozzle in one of a plurality of positions.

4. A suction cleaner comprising a suctioncreating unit having a horizontal elongated intake conduit, a suction nozzle having` an intake opening and slidably positioned in said conduit and adapted to assume one of a plurality of horizontal positions for the purpose of spacing said intake opening from said unit, and means movably supporting. .said unit and nozzle with said intake opening addressing the covering undergoing cleaning.

Signed at North Cant-011, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, this 16th day of February, A. D. 1931.

HAROLD H. BOYER. 

